Books

I read 11 books in December to bring my yearly total to 134. I’m interested to find out if I can even come close to that number again, but I’m also not worried about doing so. Reading is my happy place, but it’s not a competition and I don’t read to fulfill any kind of arbitrary numbers goal.

I started December reading Starry Night, my first Debbie Macomber book, and it was just okay. I like my romances to be steamier and this book was a little too cutesy for my liking. I read Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty’s latest, and loved it. Such great characters and a unique plot! I listened to Rest in Power, written by the parents of Trayvon Martin, which was such a hard but necessary read. I read Alyssa Cole’s latest contemporary romance, A Duke by Default, and found it so charming and lovely. Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis was a reread for me, but I loved it even more the second time around. I heard mixed reviews about The Great Alone but I ended up really liking the novel. It started off very slow but hit a turning point where I couldn’t put it down. I read my third Christina Lauren novel, Dating You/Hating You, which was so much fun and I had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading it. I finished off my goal of reading four classic novels by reading The Catcher in the Rye, which I did not enjoy one bit. Arrogant white male protagonists are not my cup of tea, I suppose. I listened to What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan on audiobook and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It was really interesting to read about the culture of China, both historically and present day. I read Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, and loved it so damn much that it was my favorite read of the year. That’s a must-read, in my opinion. And, finally, I finished 2018 by reading One Day in December, which I received from Book of the Month. It was a good read, but not a standout.

Movies

The Princess Switch (★★★☆☆) – This movie was really, really cute, if also really, really cheesy. It’s a Netflix original starring Vanessa Hudgens. She plays two characters: down-on-love Stacy who lives in New York and runs a bakery and Lady Margaret, a duchess who must marry a man she doesn’t love in two days. Stacy and Lady Margaret run into each other on the set of a baking competition that Stacy is competing in and discover they look exactly alike, so they decide to switch places for two days. Lady Margaret wants two days to not think about her impending wedding and all the responsibilities that will entail, and Stacy wants a few days to live like royalty. Well, as this is a romantic comedy, Stacy ends up falling in love with Lady Margaret’s fiance and Lady Margaret falls in love with Stacy’s best friend and trouble ensues. It’s completely implausible, but was a cute Christmas movie I watched while wrapping presents.

Podcasts

I loved the episode of How Search and Rescue Dogs Work from Stuff You Should Know. Fascinating!

I found myself enthralled by the Death, Sex & Money episode, When a Banker Was Called to the Convent. What a beautiful, funny soul Sister Josephine is.

On Hysteria, the founder of Moms Demand Action came on to talk about gun control and how much progress has been made in the past few years. It was really interesting!

This American Life just released an episode called The Room of Requirement, which seemed like a love letter to libraries. One of the stories was about the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which sits right on the border of the US and Canada and is a meeting place for people who aren’t able to leave the US due to Trump’s Muslim ban and their families (who come in via the Canada side). Another story followed a woman connecting with her favorite children’s librarian who brought her hope and inspiration when she needed it. This episode is one of TAL bests, I think, and totally worth a listen.

Posts

I revealed that I’m an Enneagram Nine and what that means for me personally.

I introduced Eloise to the blog!

I made my annual Christmas list as well as talked about my favorite present-day Christmas traditions.

And I completed another round of “Best of…” posts, which is always my favorite series because it allows for such great reflection on my year.

Highlights

> I received the honor of employee of the month at work, which was such a surprise! I mean, I definitely deserved it because I work damn hard at my job, but it was still quite the shock to hear my name (and all the nice things our CEO had to say about me!)

> My mom and I spent an evening together shopping for Christmas presents and then stopped at Steak n Shake for dinner where we enjoyed some very delicious peppermint milkshakes. Best decision!

> I adopted Eloise! Her “gotcha” day is officially December 8th, and my life has not been the same since she came home with me. Life is just so much better now!

> My mom and I had a second Christmas shopping adventure, this time at the mall and this time finishing with an outstanding cannoli cake. We did December right, that’s for sure.

> I finally went to the doctor in mid-December after spending two weeks with a terrible cough that wouldn’t go away and was keeping me up at night. She treated me for bronchitis, sending me home with a z-pack and steroids, which healed me right up! Thank heavens for modern medicine, am I right?

> I upgraded my phone to the iPhone XS and I’m oh-so-happy to make that decision. I’m part of the “iPhone Forever” program through Sprint, which means I can usually upgrade my phone for free whenever I want, so I decided to take the plunge and do it. (What can I say? I desperately wanted Portrait Mode.)

> We had a really fun holiday day at work! We had a cookie bake-off, had a Secret Santa gift exchange, and everyone wore ugly Christmas sweaters. It was so much fun!

> I met up with my mom and Chip at PetSmart for holiday pictures with Santa. Chip was a little apprehensive about everything, but we got a great photo of him with Santa. (And he looked so handsome in his Christmas bow tie!)

> My girlfriends and I had our annual fancy dinner and Secret Santa gift exchange. It was such a great night!

> My mom had me, my brother, and my nephews over to make Christmas cookies and it was so much fun! I ate a good amount of cookie dough and even the littlest nephew was happy to get in on the action. I can’t wait to do it again next year.

> I spent Christmas Eve baking cookies and then went out to dinner with my mom and stepdad at a fancy steakhouse. It was our second year doing that, so I think it might be our new tradition.

> I already talked about Christmas Day in a previous post, so suffice it to say, it was a lovely day and I felt very loved and happy.

> The day after Christmas, a good friend came over to meet Eloise and Eloise actually came over to her and let her pet her. I was so surprised that she was so friendly! We also ate pizza and watched Ellen’s comedy special on Netflix, so it was a solid night.

> I spent New Year’s at a house party with some friends, and actually got a little emotional as we counted down to the new year, champagne in hand. I have such a blessed life and great friends and I was just so grateful to have such a fun start to 2019.

What was a highlight from December for you?

Well, November. It was a hard month, starting with Pops’ funeral on the first day of the month. I never expected to be burying my grandfather this year, definitely not 28 days before my birthday. But November had its bright moments, most especially my dear friend B’s wedding that might have been the highlight of my year. I just had the absolute best time, and I really needed it after many, many weeks of hardship. Here’s my recap of November:

Books

I read nine books in November, bringing my total for the year to 123. Woop! Like I mentioned yesterday, I’m hoping to reach 130, making this year my highest reading total ever. And remember, reading is not a competitive sport! We all read at our own pace and in our own time. I just tend to devote more time to reading than, say, exercise. 😉

You Will Know Me was a thriller that had me on the edge of my seat, and the gymnastics lover in me loved the gymnastics plot. I finished Sometimes I Lie in less than 24 hours and gave it five stars due to how easily it kept my attention. The Fractured Heart was a disappointing romance with lackluster characters. I’m working my way through the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny, and A Rule Against Murder, the fourth book in the series, was absolutely delightful. I love when we get glimpses into Gamache’s marriage. I absolutely adored One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid and want everyone I know to read. It was just so fun! I found Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins to have problematic language in regard to fat-shaming, and so because of that, I wouldn’t recommend the novel. No One Tells You This was the memoir that I needed to read, all about living a happily single life in your forties. I listened to The High Season on audio. It was a slow, meandering read, but I enjoyed the exploration of privilege, family, art, and love. And I wrapped up my month with The Road Back to You, which is all about the Enneagram personality framework.

Podcasts

The Baby-Sitter’s Club Club finished reading through the BSC books! The last book, The Fire at Mary Anne’s House, was split into two parts and I was so impressed and delighted by the way they chose to wrap up this series. (Fear not, Jack and Tanner will still be podcasting and are tackling the Sweet Valley books next.)

Unladylike had an incredible episode titled, “How to Get a Rape Kit.” The episode mostly features an interview with a sexual assault nurse examiner, which is a person who is specially trained in how to examine rape victims after they’ve been assaulted. The episode was heartbreaking but hopeful, and my only wish is for every hospital to have these nurses available for rape victims.

Phoebe Judge, host of the podcast Criminal, went on a police ride-along for a day and I found the episode fascinating. We know so little about what police officers do on a day-to-day basis, so it’s worth a listen.

Serial finished up season three with episodes about juvenile detention centers and the kids who are incarcerated there. It was hard to listen to, but necessary. I liked season three of Serial much more than season two, but I don’t think it warranted a two-and-a-half year break in between seasons. I really hope she doesn’t make us wait that long for season four.

Lastly, I want to give another plug for the podcast Believed. It’s incredibly produced and so damn fascinating. It’s giving me the same feels that Serial season one gave me, where I have to listen to each episode the minute it’s downloaded. It’s not for the faint of heart (trigger warnings abound), but goddamn, it’s good.

Posts

I memorialized Pops, after losing him unexpectedly on October 28th, and then wrote about the life lessons he taught me over the years. I really never expected to be writing those posts so soon after losing Grandma. Not at all.

In mid-November, I took everyone through an average day in my life, which was really fun to put together. I need to do more posts like those!

I wrote about a fun weekend I spent in Orlando with friends, celebrating the wedding of a dear friend of ours. It’s definitely one of those weekends I’ll look back on fondly as the years pass.

I recapped my Thanksgiving holiday, a day that was hard since it was the first one without Pops (and since the loss still feels so unreal and raw, it was that much more difficult) but still had moments of goodness sprinkled throughout.

I wrote about turning 31, the miserable mess 30 was for me, and what I’m hoping for from this next year.

Highlights

> After seven weeks of impatient waiting, my couch was finally delivered and it is everything I want. It’s the perfect size for my apartment, and I just love relaxing on it while reading a book. Definitely the best purchase I made this year!

> My mom, stepdad, Chip, and I went to Dogtoberfest in Dunedin, where Chip participated in his first-ever Running of the Wieners. It was harder than I expected to be surrounded by all the dachshunds and not have my beloved with me. But sweet Chip helped me get through it. He wasn’t successful in his race (he didn’t even cross the finish line, ha), but I think he had fun nonetheless!

> I took the whole week of Thanksgiving off, the first time I’ve had that week off since I was in high school. It was so nice to have a little staycation. The first day was spent traveling back from the wedding and recovering from a very stimulating weekend. The rest of the time, I didn’t really do all too much but somehow I managed to fill up my time just right. I think I’m ready for retirement. 😉

> I joined a new gym! It opens in January and it’s super close to where I live. Ever since I canceled my gym membership, I’ve felt a little lost when it comes to my workouts. I just really like the gym atmosphere and having access to classes and such. I locked in a great rate ($20 a month!) and all the signup fees were waived. This gym will have the standard Les Mills classes and while they won’t have spin classes to start off, the manager plans on adding it into the workout schedule within a few months. I joined with one of my good friends, too, so it will be nice to have her as an accountability buddy!

> My mom took me to this adorable place called Robert’s Christmas Wonderland. It’s filled with all kinds of Christmas decorations and has this incredible room full of lit-up Christmas trees. All of the trees are fake and they are expensive. I’m talking $1,200 for a friggin Christmas tree. Nah. I picked up a few ornaments and a fun Christmas countdown for my desk at work, so I was happy!

> I had a wonderful night at a favorite local pizza place with my girlfriends to celebrate my birthday. They showered me with gifts and love. We stuffed ourselves silly with Greek salad, cheesy bread, and pizza. And we reminisced and laughed about the wedding weekend and our antics at the reception. (I don’t think anyone would have guessed that the bride’s book club friends would outlast everyone else on the dance floor!) It was a beautiful night and so good for my soul.

Tell me one of your highlights from November!

It’s October! It’s the last quarter of 2018! What even happened to this year? No matter – we’re entering my favorite time of the year, so I am ready for all these next few months have to bring. Give me pumpkin-scented candles, cooler weather, peppermint mochas, and the holiday season. I am ready.

Here’s what September looked like in my world:

Books

I read 10 books in September, bringing my yearly total to 103. So, I already met my reading goal for the year! That’s cool. I’m not going to change my reading goal; just going to keep trucking along and see how many more books I can read before 2018 is over.

I loved Sleigh Bells in the Snow, which was just a really sweet and fun contemporary romance. I listened to A Million Junes on audiobook and it was fantastic. I’m not one of magical realism, but it worked for this novel. Our book club pick for September was Red Clocks and I was not a fan. I listened to The Meaning of Michelle on audiobook and loved it so much. Taking Fire was an okay romantic suspense novel, but had my least favorite romance trope, ugh. I read Persuasion to fulfill my goal of reading four classic novels this year and decided that Jane Austen is not for me. Come as You Are was life-changing and made me feel a lot more normal about sex. I think it is a must-read for any woman. I finished up the Never, Never trilogy by reading part three and didn’t like the twist. Meh. Mr. Strange Beard was one of Penny Reid’s best and I had so much fun reading that novel. Fear by Bob Woodward was so fascinating and I listened to it on audiobook, which I think made the reading experience better for me. (Not sure if I would have made it through a print book!)

Movies

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (★★★☆☆) – A sweet movie, based on the book of the same name. I read the book and liked it, especially considering it gave us a different perspective on WWII. The movie was sweet and lovely and something most people would enjoy. It didn’t wow me in any way and probably wouldn’t watch it again, but I’m glad I gave it a watch.

The Hangover (★★★★☆) – Can you believe I’ve never seen this movie? Thankfully, I finally remedied that this month and watched it. It was hilarious and fun and ridiculous, and pretty much what I expected from a movie like this. I’m definitely going to check out the sequels in the coming months!

The Big Sick (★★★☆☆) – I put up a poll on Instagram one Saturday, asking people to vote between The Big Sick or Trainwreck. I had a few people express a very strong dislike for Trainwreck, so thankfully, The Big Sick won! I enjoyed this movie, but some of the plot was hard to believe, even though I know the movie was loosely based on real-life events. (For example, if your best friend is sick in the hospital, why would you call her ex-boyfriend with whom she had a super nasty breakup to come stay with her? <– That may be spoiler-y.) Even still, it was a heartwarming movie and I loved all of the stand-up comedy, and I’d highly recommend it! (Just be aware, it’s very F-bomb heavy!)

Podcasts

I laughed my way through Ike Barinholtz’s episode on Armchair Expert, falling in love with him even more than I already was. Dax and Ike did so many impressions throughout the episode, and that’s the easiest way to make me laugh.

Call Your Girlfriend’s episode on white fragility is a must-listen for white people. Unfortunately, I think the people who need to listen to this episode the most probably won’t.

Criminal had a really interesting episode featuring trauma surgeons, and how they deal with gunshot victims both from a medical perspective and a personal one.

I’m so happy that Serial is back! There is nothing like Sarah Koenig in my ears again. Season three explores the law and court system by spending a year inside a Cleveland courthouse. I’ve listened to the first two episodes and they were pretty damn fantastic. I don’t think this season will be as all-consuming as season one (where I had to listen to the episodes immediately and spend all my time on Reddit forums), but I do think it will be much, much better than season two.

Posts

This month, I blogged about my ideal evening routine and you better believe I am spending October trying to make that ideal routine more of an everyday reality.

I also talked about my reading routines, showing how I make time for reading on a daily basis. This post seemed to encourage more people to give reading in bits and pieces (i.e., under 15 minutes) a try. Do it, do it.

Based on a question posed on my Instagram, I offered some advice on how to choose books to read, from making a monthly TBR to cultivating a reading syllabus.

Highlights

> September kicked off with a fun walk with Chip and my mom. We went to a nearby park that has a great (mostly shaded) two-mile trail. Chip had the best time and got a lot of his puppy energy out. Afterwards, we went to Starbucks for a quick breakfast and Chip had his first taste of whipped cream. (He’s a big fan.)

> My mom, my brother, my older nephew, and I did a fun bike tour in Safety Harbor. We all rode together in a surrey bike, although we all found the biking to be really difficult! We’ve done a surrey ride before, in downtown St. Pete, and don’t remember it being so physical. Whew! We went out for breakfast after the bike ride and it was a really fun afternoon!

> I had my first massage in almost a year in early September because I had been experiencing some lower back pain. The massage was fine, but the masseuse talked way too much and made the experience a little aggravating. Ugh.

> I started therapy! Finally! It’s going well so far. I’m not ready to say she’s “the one” as my therapist, but she could be. I’ve scheduled appointments with her every other week through November, so I think I’ll reassess after then. I will say that it’s been a much more positive experience than my previous therapist, as she’s great at asking questions that help me to open up. I always leave her office feeling a bit more hopeful about my life.

> I got my second tattoo, this one in remembrance of Dutch. I always knew I was going to get a dachshund tattoo for him and I am so, so happy with the way it turned out. It’s even better than I expected! I went to the same tattoo artist who did my book tattoo last year because I had such a positive experience with him, and yet again, he didn’t let me down.

> I tried to enjoy myself during a girls’ night out in Tampa on a Wednesday evening, but anxiety got the best of me. Sigh. There were a few days of recovering from being in such a high-anxiety state afterward.

> My brother turned 32 and my nephew turned 10 this month! We celebrated my nephew’s birthday at an indoor trampoline park.

> Book club at Capital Tacos was an unexpectedly emotional night. I’m glad we all have each other and the support I get from these ladies is undeniable.

> Near the end of the month, I started having this weird eye pain/pressure/fatigue… I’m not really sure what to call it. My eyes just felt tired, as if just keeping my eyes open took all of my strength. I was also getting dizzy, so I scheduled an appointment with my eye doctor and had them dilate my eyes to make sure there wasn’t anything crazy going on. Good news is, I don’t have a crazy eye disease! The bad news is, I don’t know what was causing the eye issues. My eye doc said my eyes appeared a little dry, so he sent me home with a sample of eye drops and I used the drops a few times after that appointment, and my eyes are fine now. I’m really not sure if it was the eye drops that helped, but whatever works.

> I went to my local animal shelter to look at the kittens, and it solidified my decision to adopt kittens. I’m still feeling a little weird that I’m not going to have a dog in my home for the foreseeable future, but I also know my home will be just as sweet and happy with cats as it would be with a dog.

Tell me a highlight of yours from September!